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From left: Tony Abbott, Andrew Leigh,
Bronwyn Bishop (and husband), Rob
Oakeshott. Opposite: Greg Combet and
Malcolm Turnbull.
I am not sure how it helped my political life but it
did allow me to appear as a lawyer in a Channel
Nine television series – Bronwyn Bishop
it was possible. From that I thought that
if I wanted to write laws I had better
understand them so I decided to study law.
Greg Combet (ALP)
My interest in politics goes back to my
childhood – from family values, political
discussion at home and events of the
times, especially the Vietnam War and the
period of the Whitlam Government. I was
not particularly active in student politics
but was a member of ‘Left Action’ at
Sydney Uni. I have been a political activist
for most of my working life, including
many years as a union official.
Andrew Leigh (ALP)
I’ve always been interested in politics. My
father taught in the University of Sydney
Government Department from 1970 to
1996, so political discussions were a staple
of dinnertime conversations. Indeed, he
was a visiting fellow at the Parliamentary
Library for a semester, so we got a regular
subscription to Hansard. I remember
enjoying reading the transcript of Question
Time, and can still recite good chunks of
Keating’s “because I want to do you slowly”
response to Hewson’s question about why
he wouldn’t call an early election.
Rob Oakeshott (Ind)
I decided on political life after I had left
university, around the age of 24 when I
started working for an MP. Many incidents
in life contribute to any political thinking,
but one milestone moment from my
university days was the way the Reverend
Dr Peter Cameron was treated by the
Presbyterian Church for his sermons at
St Andrews College when I was a student.
He was a lovely man, with a big heart,
and had the strong support of the student
body. Unfortunately, he was put through
the mincer by the church at the time, and
many, including a younger me, felt it was
very unfair. Before he headed back to
Scotland, he said to me: “if I taught you
nothing other than to stand up for what
you believe in, regardless of consequences,
then it has been worthwhile”. That has
always stuck with me.
Were you involved in any student
political groups? If so, did it
prepare you for what was to
come?
abbott Yes, the SU Democratic Club
and the SU Liberal Club. Obviously,
the experience of student politics is a
good if necessarily imperfect and partial
introduction to politics more generally.
I think I always sensed that there was a
certain amount of game-playing and posestriking
in student politics which national
politics should never have because the
issues are so serious.
turnbull Student politics is much
more venomous than parliamentary
politics. After all, the stakes are so low.
bishop I didn’t get involved in politics
at university, I was involved in the Young
Liberals at Killara. I went on to become
the vice president because back then they
still had the blokes as president. Instead
at university I became involved in the
Sydney University Drama Society, mostly
because our campus was on Phillip Street,
away from the University, and I wanted
some participation in university life. I am
not sure how it helped my political life but
it did allow me to appear as a lawyer in a
Channel Nine television series. I did the
pilot for them and they asked me to star in
the show. I stopped for a while when I was
pregnant with Angela and the repeats ran
for long enough that she was still able to
watch it on TV.
combet See previous answer. My
experience as a political activist was
outside university.
leigh I was heavily involved with the
Labor students club, and with Young
Labor. In the 1995 NSW election, I ran
as the Labor candidate for the seat of
Northcott. My opponent was Barry
O’Farrell, who was also in his first race. I
think we were both happy with the result.
I got an 8 percent swing, and he won by a
margin of 24 percent.
On campus, I ran in 1992 for
Honi Soit (successfully) and the SRC
(unsuccessfully), and participated in
a plethora of clubs, from debating to
rockclimbing.
OAKESHOTT No, I wasn’t formally
active in student politics on campus. I
was at St Andrews College. Enough said …
(sorry fellow phantoms … )
24 mar 2013 SAM